Attackers firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades boarded a ship off the coast of Somalia on Thursday, British officials said, in what is believed to be an attack by resurgent Somali pirates.
The British military’s UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) centre issued an alert over the incident, saying unauthorised personnel had boarded a vessel south-east of Eyl.
It is the second such incident this week, with armed assailants attacking a commercial tanker off the coast of Mogadishu on Monday and attempting to board the ship.
In response, the European Union's counter-piracy force posted a warship to the coast off Somalia on Wednesday after saying it was “aware of the situation”.
Private maritime security company Ambrey said Thursday's attack was directed at a Malta-flagged tanker heading from Sikka in India to Durban in South Africa. It said the assault appeared to be by Somali pirates operating in the area after seizing an Iranian fishing boat to use as a base of operations.
Ambrey said on Tuesday it had received a report that an Iranian-flagged fishing vessel had probably been seized about 330 nautical miles south-east of Mogadishu. Iran has not acknowledged the fishing boat's seizure.
“It is highly likely that a Somali Pirate Action Group is at sea, and has been operating more than 300 nautical miles offshore Somalia,” Ambrey said on Wednesday.
“Those [vessels] approached matched the known target profiles and capabilities of Somali pirates.”
Piracy off the Somali coast peaked in 2011, when 237 attacks were reported. Piracy in the region at the time cost the world’s economy some $7 billion, with $160 million paid out in ransoms, according to the Oceans Beyond Piracy monitoring group.
The threat was diminished by increased international naval patrols, a strengthening central government in Somalia and other efforts, leaving Somali pirate gangs broadly inactive for years.
However, attacks have resumed at a greater pace over the past year, in part due to the insecurity of shipping in the Red Sea caused by Yemen’s Houthis. Last year, there were seven reported incidents off Somalia, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
